Inventor Compared To Solidworks

[JD Mather]

One thing I have yet to figure out is though how to dock it, it comes up on my screen as shown and I notice you have yours docked at the top of the desktop. How do you do that?

 

Regards.

 

Dave

 

 

Double click on the words CommandManager.

(Actually, you can double click anywhere on the CommandManager to dock)

[shift1313]

If you double click it, the command manager will dock in its last position. If you drag it around the screen close to an edge(top.left.right) some small icons will apear. If you drag your cursor over one of those it will dock it in that position.

[Hopinc]

Ah! - thanks guys that was driving me crackers. Unfortunately, no matter where I position the menu bar before double clicking it always docks to the right-hand side of the screen. What am I doing wrong?

 

Another difference I have found in SW compared to Inventor (please feel free to correct me if I am wrong on this) is that it does not handle "welds" at all well.

 

The image shows a model steam engine boiler that was created with Inventor 2011. I can find no way of achieving the same "welds" with SW.

 

Another annoyance in SW is the represtantion of threads - now I think you will agree with me (I hope) that that is a real pain. It's so much easier in Inventor.

 

Regards.

 

Dave

Edited September 21, 2010 by Hopinc

[shift1313]

Dave, look at my screen shot in the previous post. If you drag the command manager to the top where that small icon is with the arrow it will dock the manager at the top.

 

I actually find the SW weldments to be fairly easy to use. The approach is a little different than with inventor. You just go to Insert>Weldments. The screen shot is a weld applied to a multibody part. The majority of the weldment features are available in an assembly, not part mode, but i think its nice you can still add welds to multibody parts. If i remember right in IV you need to create an assembly from a multibody part before you can weld it. Doing this in a multibody part(say a frame) also automatically produces a cut list which is nice.

 

as far as threads go im not sure what you mean. You can go to Insert>Annotation and put Cosmetic Thread symbols in the drawing. You can create threads from the Hole Wizard as well. I also find it easy to cut threads if you need them in the model by using the sweep command and a straight line that is concenric to the hole. You can sweep with twist along path a "cutter" and specify pitch pretty easy.

[Hopinc]

Hi Matt,

 

I have got the docking manoeuvre for the Command Manager to work now, thanks.

 

When I was referring to threads, I was talking about the way SW displays them and the need to set various parameters to get them to display as Inventor. It just seems unnecessarily complicated to me. I feel it is an example of SW trying to provide every configuration possible for the user to choose from, but making it a chore in the process.

 

I will have another go at the weldments as I may be doing the program an injustice.

 

Regards.

 

Dave

[JD Mather]

I will have another go at the weldments as I may be doing the program an injustice.

 

There is a built-in tutorial for weldments.

[Hopinc]

Yes, thanks JD, I had actually viewed that some time ago. I still maintain that SW weldments are not as sophisticated as Inventor.

 

Inventor has it's drawbacks when it comes to weldments. Matt is perfectly correct that you have to been within an assembly to apply them, and then you have to convert the assembly to a weldment (which cannot be reversed once applied and saved).

 

SW's ability to create weldments with multi-bodies is great, and not being able to do the same with Inventor is a negative point. However, Inventor has several major plus points, e.g. the groove weld facility (see attached image), machining and weld preparation. You can also choose the type of filler material used. Unless I am much mistaken there is no way to do this kind of weldment within SW2010 ?

 

In my personal opinion both pieces of software need some serious upgrading work on weldments. In this instance though I think that Inventor currently has the edge.

[shift1313]

I will have to play with weldments a bit more to give you an accurate answer. When i design weldments, i am the person who welds them so I dont need to spend much time with specifics:)

[Hopinc]

I have just been watching a demonstration of the new weldment functionality in SW2011. I am impressed!

 

To view it go here:

 

http://solidworkslaunch.com/en/#/3d-design-software

 

I think that this improvement removes Inventor's advantage in this instance. Take a look at the other improvements as well, there is some neat stuff.

 

Damn, now I am going to have to upgrade .

 

Regards.

 

Dave